Kahrovic 1

Bojan Kahrovic

English 122

Shackett

14 May 2019

A Brief Decision

I was strolling down the grocery store aisle, holding my mother’s hand as I scanned the

shelves for anything tasty I could beg her for. I lock my eyes on a pringles can although right

next to it, there was a bright red bouncy ball, advertised as “Sky Ball”. My eyes got huge as I

imagined bouncing the ball into the sky. I immediately knew my mother wouldn’t even second

guess her no if I asked, so I shoved the ball in my pocket while she wasn’t looking. I did not

think about, or even consider how bad my act of stealing was. Since I wanted the ball that bad, I

didn’t think about the trouble I could end up in. My want for the ball blinded my to the potential

consequences I could face. People make the wrong decisions when the consequences are diluted

by a false feeling of that choice being okay.This is what David Grann portrays is his book,

Killers of the Flower Moon, through the unfair treatment and exploitation of the Osage people.

Everyone makes a bad decision, although when people knowingly make the wrong decision they

lie to themselves to give a false sense of it being okay.

In the Killers of The Flower Moon, author David Grann highlights the issues within the

Osage community during the birth of the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation), and how the

American people lied to themselves to feel okay with stealing from the Osage tribe. The Native

Americans were pushed off of their land and onto a reserve that was pretty arid and infertile. The

Americans did not believe there would be much value out of the plots they moved them on

anyway. This was only starting the reign of terror against the Osage people, as the Americans
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pushed them off their land to take what they had, in spite of the fact that the Natives were on the

land first. Shortly after being pushed to the reservation, the Osage people discovered large oil

deposits beneath them, raising their wealth so high so fast that they were the wealthiest people

per capita in the world. As the Osage began buying luxury goods such as multiple cars when

most people can’t afford one, and this sparked jealousy and anger within people who saw their

successes.This lead Americans to think the Natives were too incompetent and passed a law that

did not allow them to manage their own money, they were assigned a American to watch over

them. This was all a plan to further exploit the Natives, and have a better chance at stealing their

wealth. Grann mentioned how, “The accounts rarely, if ever, mentioned that numerous osage had

skillfully invested their money or that some spending might have reflected ancestral customs that

linked grand displays of generosity with tribal stature,” (Grann 77). Regardless of the Osage

actually spending their money skillfully, the American people disagreed because they were

jealous and wanted the money. This jealousy and want for the Native’s money is what caused the

criminals who went against the Osage to lie to themselves to feel like it was okay to exploit

them.

The Osage tribe was targeted because they had something the Americans wanted, and the

Osage were a easy target to lie about to justify the unfair treatment. David grann quotes F. Scott

Fitzgerald when he explains the roaring twenties as the, “...greatest, gaudiest spree in history,”

(Grann 78). This proves that people around the world were spending money so carelessly,

although since the Osage were an easy target, they were scrutinized. Nobody thought about how

the Osage were skillfully spending their money, way better than most Americans who build

mansions with 15 rooms they will never use. David Grann proceeds to highlight the FBI murder

case where the Osage people began to die off rapidly soon after their climb to wealth. There were
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numerous cases, such as Henry Roan’s, that ended in the death of a Native for their money.

Henry Roan was killed, but right before his death he was pressured into giving his estate to

William Hale. Hale was a worthless man who somehow convinced himself that killing off the

Natives and brainwashing them for their money was okay. Under 30 murders were looked into

by the FBI, while hundreds were left unsolved. The American people, specifically the criminals

such as William Hale, lied to themselves to feel okay with exploiting and killing the Osage tribe

members for their wealth.

I’ve also seen people around me lie to themselves to justify their wrong doing. Recently I

was put in a tough situation with one of my long time friends. I remember him as a shy, innocent

guy who loved video games and hanging out with his friends. Although this year has changed

him, as he began to hang out with people who were not a good influence on him. His snapchats

turned from funny videos and videos of his gaming to his menu of drugs for sale. He asked me to

hang out one night so I headed over to his buddy’s house. As soon as I got into the garage he was

showing me a baggy of over 100 xanax bars and trying to convince me to take them. He

persistently asked until I told him he would leave me alone if he valued our friendship. I decided

to leave after he continued to ask me if I wanted a line of coke. Later on I spoke with him and

begged him to stop because he didn’t know what he was doing or getting into. I did not want him

to end up in a hole or dead from drug overdose. He appreciated my words but he was already to

far in his own head with thinking everything he was doing was okay. He needed a reality check

because his lies about selling drugs being okay could have ended up killing him at any moment.

The sale and abuse of drugs is a real world example of people who lie to themselves to feel okay

with their wrongdoing.

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Our current era suffers from a lack of awareness, which leads people to lie to themselves

when committing an act of wrongdoing. Throughout my recent experiences I have been more

observant to people who lack awareness and make bad decisions. One of the most common I

have been witnessing is people who drink and drive. Whenever I have gone to a party within the

past couple years, I have witnessed at least one person get behind the wheel of a car after

drinking. I have tried to stop people whenever I can, although a lot of the time I would get a

similar response. People think if they “haven’t had a lot to drink,” they are okay to drive, which

is not true. This is just them lying to themselves to justify their wrong doing. This trait of lying to

yourself is used in many situations as it becomes a personal trait for people who get in the habit

of it. Lying to yourself can set someone down a very bad path which could end up hurting them

or others.

People knowingly committing acts of wrongdoing is a prominent issue that requires

immediate change within our society. People need to be educated early on regarding bad

decisions and lying, but this is something that is difficult to offer for every child around the

world. This change cannot happen immediately, it will have to evolve overtime. People commit

acts of wrongdoing because they lie to themselves so that they feel okay with it, and this trait is

too common in society and requires change.

Work Cited

Grann, David. Killers of the Flower Moon: the Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI. Vintage

Books, A Division of Penguin Random House LLC, 2018.

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